


Akaashi Keiji is Good at Speeches

by yadoiangel



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Accidents, Almost weddings, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Eulogies, Heavy Angst, I'm Sorry, M/M, Oaths & Vows, Post-Time Skip, or lack thereof
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27417820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yadoiangel/pseuds/yadoiangel
Summary: “I don’t think I’ll be able to do that, not now. Please, nee-san, don’t make me say goodbye to him so soon,” Akaashi whispered the last part, the prospect still too painful for him to contemplate.Where people don’t usually die playing volleyball, but a lot of other accidents can happen to stop a volleyball player from playing.For Haikyuu Angst WeekDay 7: Goodbyes
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18
Collections: Haikyuu Angst Week 2020





	Akaashi Keiji is Good at Speeches

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lugatocaubrey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lugatocaubrey/gifts).



> This was requested by Aubrey, who only told me “I want MCD, and I want it sudden,” so blame her for this okay? Enioy!

_[ some time in the fall of 2022 ]_

“Kenma, can you help me sound something out?” Akaashi asked through the phone perched between his ear and his shoulder, still typing on his laptop.

“Why? It’s not like you need any help,” Kenma answered, sounding bored even if Akaashi could hear videogame sound effects in his background. “You’re good with that kind of thing, right?”

“I still need someone to listen to it, that’s part of what makes me _good,_ ” Akaashi protested in the same even voice, “I already have it open here, you really just have to listen.”

“Why me? Can’t you have Bokuto-san listen to it?” Kenma asked, his voice getting progressively distracted. Akaashi sighed, taking a break from typing to take off his glasses and massage the bridge of his nose.

“ _Because,_ ” Akaashi drew out, taking a deep breath, “It’s my vows for Bokuto-san. Since you’re gonna be my best man—”

“Hold up, when did I ever agree to that?” Kenma asked, his side of the call suddenly quieting down, assumedly because the shorter man walked away from his console to actually pay attention to the conversation.

“Two weeks ago? When Kuroo-san volunteered to be Bokuto-san’s best man?” Akaashi reminded, checking his planner for the date.

“Uh, no I didn’t. That was just Kuro,” Kenma said quickly, and Akaashi could tell he was on the way to full-blown panicking.

“Kenma, calm down. How about we talk about this in person?” Akaashi tried to damage control, because even if his friend has grown out of the shy, people-wary kid he was in high school to prosper as a content creator-slash-CEO, nothing still freaked him out more than the prospect of having to talk in front of a huge crowd of people.

“I don’t want to be your best man,” Kenma told him, and even if he still had that same sedate voice, Akaashi knew him enough to tell the panic underneath.

“I’ll bring you apple pie from that shop you love,” Akaashi offered, already standing up and getting ready to go out.

“…Fine,” Kenma answered after a long pause, sounding mollified.

~~~

“So I don’t have to make a speech?” Kenma asked, scooping up the final piece of the pie in as many minutes since Akaashi arrived. It was amazing, really, how singular his focus was to anything that caught his interest.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just want you there,” Akaashi told him, somehow endeared by the way Kenma is so blatantly apathetic, and then there would be moments like these—affected enough that he had to ask repeated questions for him to be comfortable enough to do something for his friends. The situation was a little bit mad, but then Akaashi had been around Bokuto long enough that mad now seemed normal to him.

“Fine, I’ll be your best man,” Kenma finished the pie off, standing and collecting his utensils to avoid looking at Akaashi.

“ _Now_ will you please listen to my vows? I need to practice it,” Akaashi called out.

“Do I have to?” Kenma asked, weary from the day’s emotional roller coaster. He _had_ just endured a very rigorous soul searching to find in him the care for his friend, and he didn’t know how much more sappiness he could take. “Your wedding isn’t even until next year, Keiji.”

“You know, if you’d just agreed in the first place I would be done asking by now,” Akaashi pointed out, looking cozier on the blond’s sofa, and Kenma only sighed.

“Fine, but I’m not giving you anything else other than my opinion,” Kenma said, flopping down beside the editor.

“That’s all I need,” Akaashi answered, taking out his laptop from the bag and setting it down on the table.

“Manipulative bastard,” Kenma muttered under his breath.

“Like you aren’t any better,” Akaashi smirked at him.

“How’s the planning coming alone?” Kenma asked as they waited for the laptop to boot up, looking around for his own handheld.

“Well, I just finished contacting all the people necessary to set everything up. Next month’s going to be when the invites are sent, and then after that, food…” Akaashi rambled, and despite himself Kenma got taken in.

“Weddings are all good and fun, but what are you gonna do when it’s like this?” Kenma asked him, settling into the couch with a PSP.

“What do you mean, this?” Akaashi asked, distracted as the laptop finally opened.

“You know, for a regular season they tend to move around enough, right? And now he’s been drafted for the National Team, and he probably will be for the next five, maybe ten years. That’s gonna be a lot of moving around for him. What are you gonna do then?” Kenma elaborated, and Akaashi blinked at his screen before looking over and shooting Kenma a slight grin.

“Thought about it in detail, huh?” Akaashi’s voice was insinuating, and Kenma realized it too late. “Don’t,” Kenma warned.

“I guess you and Kuroo-san are really getting serious if you’re in that deep,” Akaashi continued, his grin turning lopsided as Kenma faked kicking him.

“I let you in to my home,” Kenma was saying, keeping up with the kicking, “Gave you my time,”—another kick—“And this is how you repay me?” he faked an outraged tone, and Akaashi snorted, which led to the two of them breaking down in giggles in the middle of Kenma’s living room, the blond still kicking him towards the other end of the sofa.

“Kenma, stop, geez,” Akaashi exclaimed when he could finally breath, and Kenma did. The two of them finally sat up properly, panting with the need to catch their breaths.

“Wow, that was the most I’ve exerted myself this week,” Kenma commented, wheezing.

“Aww, missing Kuroo-san?” Akaashi asked, and this time Kenma only glared.

“Stop joking around and get to it already,” Kenma scolded, “So I can kick you out sooner.”

“Fine, I’ll make sure to forget your apple pie the next time we do this,” Akaashi threatened.

“We are _not_ doing this again,” Kenma huffed out.

“Even when it’s my turn to be best man?” Akaashi asked, not looking at the shorter man as Kenma sputtered, his too flustered to say anything. Akaashi took advantage of it, opening up his vows and clearing his throat.

“The first time I saw you, I thought you were amazing, Bokuto-san.” Akaashi said, reading off of the page to cut the blond off.

“Really? Your wedding, and you still call him Bokuto-san?” Kenma scoffed, staring at the taller man, but Akaashi continued on as if he didn’t say anything.

“You were already an ace to me then, and ten years later you’ve become more than that. We were friends first, and I can’t tell you how much that already meant to me, but I’ll try,” here Akaashi took a deep breath, his eyes blurring as he looked past the screen to his and Bokuto’s memories.

“I never realized how heavy the weight of loneliness was to me until you came into my life and breezed past the niceties to ask me to toss to you constantly, of all things. I thought you were a volleyball idiot then—and I still think that’s true—but I quickly found out that you weren’t _just_ a volleyball idiot.”

“Oh really? I haven’t noticed,” Kenma said sarcastically, as if he couldn’t stop himself, but hey, who could blame him? Akaashi was usually so sedate, and seeing him turn all sappy like this was getting too much.

“You… Bokuto-san, you are the star with which my world spins around. You are so, _so_ kind, and I never thought much about that word until you redefined it for me. You always strove to somehow combine our wants so that we could both be selfish at the same time, and no matter how hard I try, I never could fully figure out how you do it. Kindness to me means your loud booming laugh that always manages to cheer me up when things get low, and your quiet voice at night keeping me company when I can’t seem to sleep, and your sure touch whenever I’m so unsure of everything around me, getting me out of my own head by reminding me you were there too.”

“Where the hell are the vows, Keiji? Did you just gush about your fiancé for five minutes _in the goddamn service_?” Kenma asked, incredulous.

“I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with you because of it, and I’ll stay for as long as you’ll have me. You will never be alone anymore, Koutarou. I promise you now that you don’t have to hide, you don’t have to try to shoulder everything yourself, and most especially, you don’t have to be anything other than yourself. I’ll be here for you every step of the way, and you will never again feel as if you don’t have anyone there for you in any journey you choose to go on.”

“Okay I must admit, that was good,” Kenma breathed, and finally Akaashi was snapped out of his trance.

“How was that?” Akaashi asked as if he hadn’t been staring at nothing for the past ten minutes.

“It was… something else, Keiji. I feel compelled to tell you congratulations even if you haven’t actually been married,” Kenma said, shaking his head and looking away.

“Thanks,” Akaashi said, nodding, trying to clear his head of the cloudiness.

Kenma’s phone rang then, and the blond frowned when he saw who was calling.

“Kuro, isn’t it like, 2am where you are?” Kenma greeted as he answer. Akaashi only watched him passively, so he was witness to the way the shorter man’s brows furrowed before it darted over to him, and did Akaashi see a dash of pain there?

“What is it, Kenma?” Akaashi asked, suddenly alert, but Kenma ignored him.

“I will, don’t worry. Take care, Kuro, we’ll be there soon,” he said into the phone, and then he ended the call, turning towards Akaashi, as solemn as the taller man had seen him.

“Keiji, I’m so sorry,” Kenma mumbled, reaching towards the other.

“What happened, Kenma?” Akaashi felt dread curl around his stomach, refusing to go into the blond’s arms until he knew.

“There’s been a fire in the village. Kuro just called to tell me the news,” Kenma explained, looking away as he did, “Bokuto-san rushed into one to save a teammate, but…”

“Tell me,” Akaashi’s voice was hoarse now, knowing what was coming next. How could he not with the way Kenma was behaving?

“A building fell on them both before they could get out. I’m so sorry, Keiji,” Kenma whispered, and finally Akaashi let himself fall into his arms.

He didn’t have any energy left to hold himself up, not with his other half ripped away so suddenly like this.

_[ some time in the winter of 2023 ]_

“Nee-san, I’m sorry, but I can’t,” Akaashi was shaking his head, his eyes squeezed shut as he hugged himself in his seat.

“Are you sure? Don’t you want to give him a proper goodbye?” Bokuto-san’s—Koutarou, he was Koutarou to him—eldest sister, Kosuke, was looking like Akaashi felt.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to do that, not now. Please, nee-san, don’t make me say goodbye to him so soon,” Akaashi whispered the last part, the prospect still too painful for him to contemplate.

“It’s alright, Ke-chan. How about you leave me for a bit with Keiji-chan here for a bit?” Koutarou’s other, older sister came and swept Akaashi outside of the funeral place they were at.

“I’m sorry, nee-san,” Akaashi said again, following behind.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. Suke just knows how much Kou loved it when you made one of your speeches, so it’s likely she thought you’d want to do one now for him. You don’t have to, though. I can only imagine just how much this hurts,” Kokoro rambled, looking up at the skies when they’ve walked a ways away.

“He was your brother, though. I’ll never know how that would feel,” Akaashi returned, looking at the ground they were walking on.

 _It was decidedly too good a day to be walking the earth without Bokuto-san,_ Akaashi thought to himself, _but then, wouldn’t that turn out to be every day?_

“I think you do. It’s the same love, anyway, just shown differently. What I was talking about was how he changed ever since he met you, and according to him, how much you changed too. _That_ must be painful, blending with each other so seamlessly, only to lose him so suddenly,” Kokoro pointed out, and Akaashi laughed bitterly. This was Koutarou’s middle sister, the one who was a lawyer, the one who didn’t hesitate to rip into anyone on the courts. No wonder Akaashi felt too exposed.

“It’s just… pain,” Akaashi attempted to explain, and now the two of them reached the plot of land that would be for Bokuto.

“Well, if you ever change your mind, you can tell me,” Kokoro said, and then left him.

Akaashi only continued to stare at the ground, wanting to lie down. The weight of loneliness was back on his shoulders, and this time the burden was heavier to bear.

“Koutarou, I never knew you to cheat,” Akaashi started, and he could feel the tears start again, but this time he didn’t mind them. If his vision was blurry enough, he can’t see the absence of his fiancé then, would he?

“Why did you choose to do it now, huh? You haven’t even heard my vows. It was supposed to make you cry, but why are you the one making me cry, huh?” Akaashi laughed again, and with that, it was like the floodgates were opened, and Akaashi screamed, feeling as if his chest was both being squeezed and cut open.

“Come back to me, Kou,” Akaashi whispered, and then he did lie down, burying himself in the grass he knew would be where his should-have-been husband would rest for the rest of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Come scream at me on [twitter!](https://twitter.com/yadoiAnghel)


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